A New Believer

The r,l and c of the cable interacts with the source r,l and c and the load r, l and c to very the frequency response and phase shift of the audio signal. Also shield effects rf pickup by the cables that get fed back to the amplifier and fed back to the input by the amps feedback loop. These few factors alone can alter the sound of various cables in any given system. The differences can be small or very noticeable or not noticed at all

ahendler:
does difference = 'better' or improved??

I'm not touching this one with a 10ft pole (or cable)!

Would you agree that "immeasurably small" is the same as "not noticed at all"? Therefore something "very noticeable" ought to be measurable, correct? If so, please advise where in the literature of cables one can find a side-by-side comparison of phase shift or frequency response pitting one cable against another under identical conditions.

I would also contend there is no way a reasonably short cable (<4 feet) could possibly contain enough capacitance to affect the loading of the input, though there may be some poorly made beast out there that does. Shielding is a different issue, which can affect sound, particularly in low-current turntable connections. But added RFI is not the issue; sound quality is. I still don't know what independent variable can be assigned to a cable for this.

Whether the difference is better or worse is a subjective judgement made by the listener